Stringed instruments such as guitars, violins, mandolins, ukuleles and the like are well known. A guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. A typical guitar (or other stringed instrument) includes a body with a rigid neck, to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with either nylon or steel strings. There are two primary families of guitars: acoustic and electric.
Acoustic guitars (and similar instruments) with hollow bodies have been in use for over a thousand years. There are three main types of modern acoustic guitar: the classical guitar (nylon-string guitar), the steel-string acoustic guitar, and the arch top guitar. The tone of an acoustic guitar is produced by the vibration of the strings, which is amplified by the body of the guitar, which acts as a resonating chamber. Electric guitars, introduced in the 1930s, rely on an amplifier that can electronically manipulate tone. Early amplified guitars employed a hollow body, but a solid body was found more suitable.